Barbara Reynolds Smyth

Barbara Smyth succumbed to colorectal cancer at her home in Meredith after a heroic fight of more than seven years. Barbara, 66, was born in White Plains, New York and grew up in nearby Elmsford.  Talented in art, she received a fine arts degree from Syracuse University and, while in college, took the name "Bobby" because there were so many Barbaras around.  Always adventuresome, her first move after college was to join a cousin sailing trans-Atlantic in his 40 foot wooden sailboat.  When the boat was dismasted during a storm off the Canary Islands and one crewmember left in fear, Bobby stayed on to arrive safely in the Caribbean.  Less-risky sailing always remained a favorite pastime of hers.  After a brief period in Boston, Bobby moved to New York, eventually joining Time Inc.'s Fortune magazine, where she worked for almost 30 years.   At Fortune she was part of a design team that transitioned from the scissors and paste pot technology of page layout to one of the most sophisticated computerized graphic design systems in the world.  In 1998, Bobby retired from Time Inc. and, in 1999 married a childhood acquaintance from Elmsford, Lou Kahn, moving with him to Meredith.   Bobby's agreement to marry Lou was conditioned on his providing her with two horses and a red pickup truck. In Meredith, she indulged her lifelong love of horseback riding, for the first time owning her own Tyrolian Alpine "Haflinger" ponies.  She also focused on the conservation and protection of local landscapes and watersheds, in particular, Lake Waukewan.As a member of the Meredith Conservation Commission, Bobby worked on publicity and posters to help the town acquire the conservation easement on Longridge Farm on Route 3 and the Eames and Page Pond properties and she helped clear trails in the Hamlin Town Forest, which abuts her home.  She is the inspiration for a pending gift to the town of a conservation easement on about 125 acres of forest, owned by her and her husband, abutting the town's Hamlin and Eames forest properties. Bobby applied her design and production skills to the newsletters of the Northeast Haflinger Association and the Waukewan Shore Owners Association.  She also served the latter as a board member.  In 2007, the Greater Meredith Program named Bobby Volunteer of the Year.  She designed, planted and watered flower and landscape beds and flower boxes gracing the Meredith Center firehouse and other locations.  Bobby also was a member of the Meredith Altrusa Club.  Bobby is survived by her husband and his two adult children, Jessica and Richard, her sister and brother-in-law, Sally O. Smyth and Tom DeMarco of Camden, Maine, numerous cousins in the Kingery, Ellis and Reed families, her ponies Bob and Tanya, and her beloved Bull Terrier, Sadie.  Memorials:Contributions in Bobby's memory may be made to the Meredith Public Health Nursing Association, 45 Route 25, Meredith, NH 03253, whose nurses and workers supported Bobby throughout her long battle.  Service:There are no present plans for services.